Tendrando Arms YVH-X combat droid

Images by Chris Moffitt

Designation: YVH-X combat droid, Gyno types ending in a G and Andro types ending in an A.
Manufacturer: Tendrando Arms
Production Line: YVH-series battle droid
Model: Yuuzhan Vong Hunter X combat droid
Technical Designation: YVH-X
Affiliation: Galactic Alliance, Mandalorians, independents.
Availability: Mass-Produced
Composition: Durasteel and duraplast endoskeleton, armorplast-hadrium alloy composite plating, mimetic polyalloy outer sheath.
Classification: Fourth Degree - Combat droid
Weight: 110 kilograms (242 lbs) gyno type, 190 kg (418 lbs) andro type
Height: 1.7 meters (5'6") gyno type, 1.9 meters (6'2") andro type
Movement: Bipedal
Armaments:

• BlasTech DC-41h heavy blaster rifles: These weapons are concealed within the droid's primary forearms, a little-known product designed to be built into droids much like the YVH-X and other high-end battle droids. To employ the built-in blaster, the droid must de-articulate its hand and retract the structure back and out of the way as it extends the barrel. The YVH-X has one on each of its two main forearms. They have both an ominous hum and a visible glow while powered up, as well as having the fair slow rate of fire of once every five-ten seconds due to cooling and power constraints thanks to the necessary miniaturization to fit them into the droid's forearms, as well as the problems inherent to locating much of their components in the droid's torso rather than in the forearm. They are also fairly fragile compared to standard heavy rifles; damage to the droid's forearm will disable the heavy blaster rifle, especially if it's damaged while the barrel is extended. The heavy blasters have an effective range of 180 meters and a maximum range of 300 meters, discharging bright blue bolts of plasma.
  The blasters have a very effective stun setting as well, which the droids use when necessary - such as to collect a live target or avoid accidentally killing their ward. Thanks to their bolts' ionic charge, they are very damaging to droids - but unlike most ion weapons, they're also quite lethal against organics as well. Though the heavies draw power from the droid's internal systems, they have a reduced supply of Tibanna gas compared to standard blasters due to the necessity of miniaturization; each DC-41h has enough for only about a hundred shots, as compared to the standard five hundred or more.
  
• Electroshock probe: Contacts on the droid's palms and fingers enable it to deliver a powerful electrical shock to those it grasps. The droid can modulate the charge so as to cause pain, to stun, or even to kill when necessary. It can also launch the probes attached to a 10-meter flexisteel cable, electrocuting at a distance.

Defenses:

• Mimetic polyalloy sheath: A liquid metal compound also known as polymimetic alloy, this material is derived from laminanium. It allows the YVH-X-series droid to change its appearance and pigmentation, though it cannot alter its mass or basic body structure. Stored within small reservoirs inside the torso and cranium when not in use, while deployed it not only aids in infiltration but also adds strength to the overall armor of the battle droid.
  Acting as an armor, mimetic polyalloy is best against projectiles and solid weapons. It can actually reform when damaged, but it's not exactly durasteel. The armor can absorb several slugthrower shots, though the more powerful railguns tend to punch right through it - to say nothing of what rippers and other electrochemically-propelled rounds would do. Slashing strikes with vibroweapons do no permanent damage except when deep enough to penetrate to the carapace below, but thrusts are very effective when employed with sufficient force. The mimetic polyalloy is less effective when used against energy weapons, as it can take only one or two shots from a blaster in a given area; heavy blasters and blaster rifles tend to punch right through.
  The polymimetic alloy is vulnerable to certain conditions and substances. The biggest vulnerability is that it is naturally a semifluid at room temperature, entering a solid state and changing shape only with the application of a magnetic field. Thus, when it is exposed to powerful electrical charges (such as that of ion weapons and plasma), the mimetic polyalloy tends to solidify, shatter and fragment until its charge neutralizes again. The warping effect is extremely unpleasant for the droid. The alloy is also vulnerable to extreme heat, as if it is exposed to temperatures hot enough to forge durasteel the alloy denatures into its normal, silvery metallic state much like its laminanium base. The heat of energy weapons (such as blasters and lasers) is sufficient to melt away and even evaporate the polyalloy, leaving craters of silvery, heat-softened laminanium around the points of impact. Corrosive agents, such as strong acids, strong bases, and plasmas will also denature the polyalloy. It is not resistant to lightsabers, as those weapons hit pretty much each of the polyalloy's vulnerabilities. With time the droid's internal mechanisms can repair the damaged polyalloy, but doing so usually takes about an hour or so.
  
• Armorplast-hadrium alloy composite plating: The droid's frame is high-grade durasteel and duraplast plated with laminated armorplast-hadrium alloy composite. It is deceptively strong for its size and able to take quite a bit of punishment. The composite plating itself can withstand five-seven pistol shots, three-four rifle shots, or one-two blaster cannon shots. The armor has a very high melting point, but it's certainly no cortosis. It is roughly on par with heavy battle armor, though because it is part of the droid's body it does not hinder the YVH-X nearly so much as similar battle armor does organics.

Misc. Equipment:

• MerenData GwendoLyn 12d heuristic processor: A step up from a standard droid processor, this enables the YVH-X droid to learn by doing and to reason through problems much like a sapient creature rather than relying solely on pre-programmed knowledge and instructions. It includes Tachyon processing bands, quantum ram, and biocell storage to give it impressive processing speed and extensive memory storage.
  
• Mimetic Combat Processor: This processor possesses the remarkable capacity to convincingly and accurately observed combat styles and behaviors. The YVH-X also utilizes this processor to mimic the appearance of targets it sees as well, and it has the capacity to combine and edit styles and appearances as necessary.
  
• Integrated SoroSuub Hush-98: One of the most expensive comlinks on the market, this comlink is well worth the price - and Tendrando Arms has long held the tradition of providing the best. In addition to an extended 100-km, low orbit communication range, tight-beam transmissions and encryption technology requiring an expert slicer to detect, much less crack, the Hush-98 has silence projectors built into it. These create a tiny field of white noise around the droid, making it very difficult to overhear what is said into the unit or sounds coming from the droid. While of little use to the droid, this last feature makes it invaluable in hostage situations and other scenarios where placing a covert call is important.
  
• TranLang III Communicator module: A late-generation communication module incorporation millions of galactic languages, this is the same device as was installed on the 3PO-series and LOM-series protocol droids.
  
• Cryoncorp Mechano-1000/ix Sensor Pack: The YVH-X has an excellent sensor suite, being designed to detect and identify threats long before organics could. They have sensitive audio sensors, motion-sensing radar, magnetic imagers, chemical trace sniffers, telescopic optics, infrared vision, and no/low-light amplification. The droid is able to detect and decrypt com signals, and it can record its sensory data for later playback and transmission.
  
• Idellian Arrays ILF-5000 Life Form Scanner: A specially tuned scanner that locates and identifies life forms with an optimum range of up to 100 meters and a maximum range of approximately 500 meters. The ILF-5000 can store information on ten species at a time, and it automatically indicates if a detected life-form is one of the ten. If the species is not one of the indicated life-forms, the sensor only gives the size, distance, and direction. YVH-X-series droids can program the slots for specific targets, whether it be for assassination or protection, instead of members of a particular species, and can store additional target data in its own processor to swap out later (a process taking about a minute and a half per target).
  
• Internal storage compartment: Located in the torso, this compartment is large enough to hold about ten kilograms of material. If assigned to bodyguard duty, it typically contains at least one medpack, but otherwise the internal storage is generally used for additional weapons and gear. The storage compartment is shielded from sensor scans, disguised to look like an oversized processor.
  
• Internal fusion generator: Thanks to this onboard power supply, the droid can recharge itself without shutting down. It can power the droid's systems for up to a year, and the droid can open up its chassis to plug other systems into the generator. While the shoebox-sized generator has less power than that of a dedicated power droid, it can provide power for most vehicles and equipment for some time, a starfighter for weeks, or even a light freighter for a few days. The droid has a pair of standard batteries that give it one hundred hours of power after the internal generator gives out.
  The generator is, however, rather volatile. If breached while running, it goes off with the force of a thermal detonator. Needless to say, nothing of the droid would survive such a detonation - and everyone within thirty meters of the blast would be less than happy about it.
  
• Adjoining limbs: The YVH-X droid's arms are able to bisect into four, enabling it to pass as a Codru-Ji, Besalisk, Pho Ph'eahian, or other four-armed species - or even as a winged species such as a Sky'tri. They are also able to employ four arms, being programmed to use their additional limbs just as effectively as they use the normal configuration. Most prefer to remain in the four-limbed configuration, however, as splitting their arms reduces the strength of the limbs.
  The set of four forearms have modular weapon mounts. On the stock model, only the two primary forearms have mounted weapons, a pair of specially-designed heavy blaster rifles. The hard points can't accept ordinary weapons, but must have specially-designed droid weapons installed.

Description: This droid is a skeletal endoskeleton, the Gyno type slender and feminine in its build while the Andro type is more masculine. In its normal state it has a decidedly sinister appearance, black chrome with blue running lights and optics. The tone of the lights and optics changes with the droid's mood, getting paler as it gets more excited and darker as it gets calmer. With the mimetic polyalloy sheath, however, the droid can disguise itself as a humanoid organic or even another droid, using its mimetic combat processor to make the disguise nearly flawless. It can duplicate color, texture, even temperature, and can pass for organic skin to a cursory medical examination - though it cannot disguise its magnetic field, much less its mass, the fact that it's primarily metal in construction, nor can it produce pheromones like true organics do. This enables the droid to excel in the bodyguard role, as it can not only pass for an innocuous bystander but can even act as a body double for its ward.
The first models of the series were designed during the Yuuzhan Vong War to fight the now-vanished biotech-using extragalactic invaders; they retain the designation despite the fact that the Vong have been missing for centuries. Tendrando Arms has since refined the YVH-series to become a battle and assassin droid series on par with the HK-series and IG-series droids. The YVH-series droids are, like the HKs and IGs, very clever and creative droids. Unlike the HKs and IGs, however, they're programmed with loyal, friendly personalities more like an R-series astromech than a combat droid, but are also relentless and implacable. They do not tire and they do not quit. The only way to get them to cease from their commanded tasks is to destroy them, whether it be reprogramming them or to dismantle the droid. YVH-series droids, and the YVH-Xs are no exception, have been known to track down assassins and bounty hunters who abducted or killed their wards months, years, or even decades after the fact.